I shy away from the jingoistic version of patriotism and other forms of total bias to ones birth nation. After all, to be born of a certain nationality is nothing but an accident, a mere coincidence. We have no control over what our nationality of birth can be or should be. So the extreme bias, the chest-thumping fervor, and the feel of superiority (or inferiority) for one’s nation somehow eludes me. I merely go by the fact that I was born within the geographical boundaries of India and to parents who were born and raised within India. But generally speaking, I consider myself a resident of this planet who happens to be born in India.

When I express this to other Indians, I almost always get criticized as someone who is ashamed of identifying oneself as an “Indian”. It is difficult to make these people understand that this position of…